possible constipation in an adult squirrel?

[kenziebtt]

hi i’m looking for some advice on what i should do for my poor squirrel. he is 1.8 years old make grey squirrel. this past month he lost his winter fat and i was concerned he seems a bit skinnier than he should be. then i notice he is picking at the veg not really eating so much of it. however until yesterday he was still eating his henry blocks (2, healthy flavor) and oxbow rat food.
about a week and a half ago he started grunting occasionally that has progressed to now he’s grunting a lot like he’s in pain. and being hunched over and fluffed up. he also will vibrate/shiver especially when laying with me.
he is still walking and climbing, and in the morning he seems good and runs around.
in the AM he poops a lot a mix of normal size and also really small dark ones. he was having bouts of randomly pooping crazy during play a few days ago but that has stopped and i don’t notice a lot of pooping throughout the day. his urine seems normal.
i’m getting gas x drops for him tomorrow. and currently he’s getting magnesium glycinate, tumeric, canned pumpkin and baby rice cereal (his nose and pads are really pale so also possibly anemic?)
i’m getting a scale to monitor his weight and also pedialyte and ensure. i have gabapentin and antibiotics i just don’t know if i should give them. my other squirrel is a 9 month old female and she’s perfectly fine

[CritterMom]

First, too much magnesium will cause loose stools but it also can cause stomach issues like cramping. I won't comment on tumeric but baby rice cereal works by absorbing excess water in the digestive tract and this is actually a treatment for diarrhea, not constipation.

First, I would increase his hydration and you can even add a tiny pinch of sugar to it and syringe feed it if you need to. My first squirrel had occasional issues with this and my solution was a mix of ground up HHBs, PRUNE baby food, and a little dab of peanut butter all warmed in the microwave. The texture was like sloppy oatmeal. He preferred to have this served to him on a spoon. It helped get things moving without having reverse issues like going from constipation to diarrhea.

[kenziebtt]

First, too much magnesium will cause loose stools but it also can cause stomach issues like cramping. I won't comment on tumeric but baby rice cereal works by absorbing excess water in the digestive tract and this is actually a treatment for diarrhea, not constipation.

First, I would increase his hydration and you can even add a tiny pinch of sugar to it and syringe feed it if you need to. My first squirrel had occasional issues with this and my solution was a mix of ground up HHBs, PRUNE baby food, and a little dab of peanut butter all warmed in the microwave. The texture was like sloppy oatmeal. He preferred to have this served to him on a spoon. It helped get things moving without having reverse issues like going from constipation to diarrhea.

okay thank you so much. i only just started the magnesium/tumeric/baby cereal yesterday because no one had any answers for me in the facebook group i normally go to for advice. should i consider doing an iron supplement of some sort for the possible anemia? his nose and paw pads have gone between a very pale almost grey color to light pink since november, so i don’t know if that could be a contributing factor to him not feeling well